Music City Bowl

The Notre Dame football team will have its first practice Aug. 7 at Culver Academies in Culver, Ind., the first of five straight two-hour sessions there before the Irish return to campus in South Bend, Ind., to finish the remainder of camp. Notre Dame will hold its Media Day on Aug. 18 and opens the season at home Sept. 5 against Texas before traveling to Virginia on Sept. 12. Several coaches recently have said Notre Dame and other independents should be required to be in a conference in order to be eligible for the College Football Playoff. With the exception of hockey and football, the school’s sports teams are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. There are six ACC teams...

When you've finished your season in bowls for more than two straight decades without a break, like Virginia Tech has done, there's a mountain of memories — both positive and negative — to cull through.
As Tech prepares for its 22nd consecutive bowl...

BLACKSBURG — Forty years ago, Virginia Tech absorbed an historic 77-6 beating from Alabama. Bear Bryant, his wishbone and houndstooth hat no longer define the program, but the Crimson Tide is no less formidable and iconic entering the teams' season-opener...

CHARLOTTESVILLE — In the days after he was fired as North Carolina State's associate head coach for defense and linebacker coach this past season, along with head coach Tom O'Brien, Jon Tenuta took stock of his own resume.
It dawned on Tenuta he had...

With the official announcement Thursday of the addition of Tom O'Brien, Jon Tenuta, Marques Hagans and Jeff Banks as full-time assistant football coaches, Virginia added 86 combined seasons of coaching experience, and re-introduced some familiar faces...

Percolating for weeks, Tom O’Brien’s return to Virginia’s football coaching staff as associate head coach became reality Thursday.
The final hurdle was O’Brien’s contract at North Carolina State, which fired him as head coach in November after six...

From 2001-06, ACC football teams won 25 of their 41 bowls. They went a sterling 8-2 against the Big Ten, Pacific 12 and Big 12 combined, a respectable 4-6 versus the Southeastern Conference.
Seems like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it?
The subsequent years...

Annual Big East rivals from 1992-2003, Virginia Tech and Rutgers could well meet again at this season’s Russell Athletic Bowl.
Postseason bids won’t be finalized until Sunday evening, but the Dec. 28 game in Orlando, Fla., has emerged as the Hokies’ most...

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Last season, Virginia and Virginia Tech played for the ACC's Coastal Division title. One year later, and for the first time since 1988, they enter their annual football clash with losing records.
But don't talk to the Cavaliers about...

CHICK-FIL-A BOWL
VIRGINIA (8-4) vs. AUBURN (7-5)WHEN/TV: 7:30 p.m./ESPN
WHERE: Georgia Dome, Atlanta.
THE BUZZ: Though Auburn will be missing the most dependable piece of its offense with the suspension of running back...

Mike London remembers all too well his final college football game, the last time he stripped off his University of Richmond uniform.
London was a captain of that 1982 squad, which exited not only with a 28-17 home loss to William and Mary, but also the...

Before last weekend, Virginia coach Mike London's favorite memory in connection with the Chick-fil-A Bowl may have been one he had to enjoy vicariously through his brother, Paul.
In 1995, Paul was a starting cornerback for the U.Va. team that defeated...

When Virginia Tech defeated Texas in the 1995 Sugar Bowl, Frank Beamer cautioned Hokies faithful not to expect similar success every year.
"I think we've got a chance to be a top program year in and year out," he said. "But every year...

As the dominos started to rearrange in the Atlantic Coast Conference after Virginia Tech was chosen to play in the Sugar Bowl as an at-large selection, Virginia benefited Sunday by being selected to play in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
U.Va. (8-4) will face...

The final Bowl Championship Series matchups will be released later this evening, but Virginia Tech fans can start booking flights to New Orleans: The Hokies are Sugar-Bowl bound to play Michigan, mulitiple sources said.
The ACC’s first-ever BCS...

Among those listening to Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer’s post-mortem Saturday night was Gary Stokan, president of the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
The Atlanta-based game has the first pick of ACC teams after the Bowl Championship Series and will select the...

The likeliest bowl destinations for Virginia (Nashville) and Virginia Tech (Miami or Atlanta) remain the same. But there are improbable parlays that could send the Cavaliers to Charlotte or the Hokies to New Orleans.
Let’s start with Virginia, which...

When ACC commissioner John Swofford called Monday, Virginia football coach Mike London anticipated a reprimand for his criticism of officials. Far from it.
Swofford informed London that he is the conference's 2011 Coach of the Year.
After Tuesday's...